Golden Globes Offer the Expected and Unexpected: Who Gets a Boost Heading for Oscars?

The Golden Globes -- voted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association -- do not reflect the direction of the Oscar race. But they can give valuable momentum for the winners who get nominated this Thursday. The full list of winners, and analysis, is here.

The Golden Globes -- voted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association -- do not reflect the direction of the Oscar race. But they can give valuable momentum for the winners who get nominated this coming Thursday. And when a Globes winner gives a good speech, that translates into a memorable moment that lives on. That's why everyone wants these wins so badly. (Full list of winners below.)

Thus "12 Years a Slave" wanted to rack up some winning momentum for Lupita Nyong'o, Michael Fassbender, Hans Zimmer and Steve McQueen, but had to settle for the one big win of the night, for Best Drama. Alfonso Cuaron took home best director for "Gravity," which will likely repeat on Oscar night.

As expected, Cate Blanchett graciously accepted her Best Actress prize for "Blue Jasmine." Woody Allen was a no-show for his lifetime achievement award, which was accepted by a predictably kooky Diane Keaton.

Best Actress contender Emma Thompson continues to win support with her charming comedic appearances--she had heels and martini in hand introducing the screenwriting category.

Leonardo DiCaprio in 'The Wolf of Wall Street'

Spike Jonze took home the screenplay award for "Her," which is stumbling at the box office and needs all the help it can get.

Adding momentum for "Dallas Buyers Club" were wins for Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, already a frontrunner for supporting actor, who gave a carefully crafted heartwarming speech about his career switch with reminders of the degree of difficulty. Comedy actress Amy Adams, too, tugged at the heartstrings--her nomination Thursday will be a sign of the relative strength of full-steam-ahead powerhouse "American Hustle," which also scored the expected Comedy win.

The Golden Globes tend to favor stars who they like to see on the show, from U2 (whose "Ordinary Love" from "Mandela" beat "Let it Go" from "Frozen" for best song) to comedy winners Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Wolf of Wall Street") and Jennifer Lawrence ("American Hustle"). While she's a lock for an Oscar nomination, DiCaprio would have to knock out Robert Redford to land a slot. "Frozen" did take home best animated film, while "All is Lost" landed a surprise win for Best Score for Alex Ebert.

Assuming that Paolo Sorrentino's "The Great Beauty" lands a foreign Oscar nomination, its Globes win will make it more of a must-see for Academyvoters, who will be getting screeners for all five nominees.

Co-hosts Tiny Fey and Amy Poehler set the bar high again for insider hilarity, which Ellen DeGeneris will be keeping in mind as she works with writers to prep for the big Oscar show.

Thompson on Hollywood

Born and raised in Manhattan, Anne Thompson grew up going to the Thalia and The New Yorker and wound up at grad Cinema Studies at NYU. She worked at United Artists and Film Comment before heading west as that magazine's west coast editor. She wrote for the LA Weekly, Sight and Sound, Empire, The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly before serving as West Coast Editor of Premiere. She wrote for The Washington Post, The London Observer, Wired, More, and Vanity Fair, and did staff stints at The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. She eventually took her blog Thompson on Hollywood to Indiewire. She taught film criticism at USC Critical Studies, and continues to host the fall semester of “Sneak Previews” for UCLA Extension.